Module HDW-3075:Welsh History Dissertation

Module Facts

Run by School of History, Philosophy and Social Sciences

40 Credits or 20 ECTS Credits

Semester 1 & 2

Organiser:
Dr Euryn Roberts

Overall aims and purpose

This module brings together all the skills and experience related to Welsh History learnt in years 1 and 2 through the successful completion of a historical or
archaeological research project (10,000-12,000 words in length). You will produce a substantive piece of independent research on a topic of your choice,
and you will also manage how you research it and how you write it. Each student is allocated a dissertation supervisor who will normally meet with them
on a one to one tutorial basis to supervise their research and discuss their progress. The work for you dissertation may consist of library and archive
research, archaeological fieldwork, data organisation and writing up. Dissertations will vary in nature according to their discipline (history, archaeology,
heritage, interdisciplinary studies); according to the period they examine; and to the nature of the sources they use. The dissertation should contain an
element of originality (in the sources used and/or in their analysis) and should include primary material.

Course content

The report and dissertation will set the chosen Welsh History research in its broader context e.g. historiography, theoretical framework, geographical and historical framework. It will set research questions and a structure will be worked out. It will describe and analyse the chosen topic using a range of relevant secondary and primary evidence. The project will be written up in an ordered and academic manner.

Assessment Criteria

threshold

Threshold students (lower 40s) will demonstrate satisfactory research skills in at least parts of their chosen topic, and will make at least partly successful attempts to interrogate and analyse the information and to write up the project in an academic manner.

good

Good students (60s) will show a solid level of achievement in all the criteria listed in the paragraphs above.

excellent

Excellent students (70s and above) will show this solid achievement across the criteria combined with originality, extensive knowledge of the chosen topic in its broader context and subtlety of argument and analysis.

Learning outcomes

The student will have learnt how to gather primary and secondary research material for their Weslh History project

The student will have learnt how to set this material in a broader context.

The student will have learnt how to construct an argument/analyse the evidence in a relevant manner

The student will have learnt how to organise the report and dissertation and write at a sustained length in the latter.

The student will have learnt how to prepare the project satisfactiorily for submission.

Assessment Methods

Type

Name

Description

Weight

Dissertation Progress Report

10

Dissertation Oral Presentation

10

10,000-12,000 word Dissertation Final submission

80

Teaching and Learning Strategy

Hours

Tutorial

Each student is allocated a dissertation supervisor
who will normally meet them on a one to one
tutorial basis to supervise the research and discuss
progress.

The student will produce a substantive piece of
indepenedent research and writing using a specific Welsh History
case-study drawing on their own research. This
may consist of library and archive research,
fieldwork, data organisation and writing up.

392

Transferable skills

Literacy - Proficiency in reading and writing through a variety of media

Computer Literacy - Proficiency in using a varied range of computer software

Self-Management - Able to work unsupervised in an efficient, punctual and structured manner. To examine the outcomes of tasks and events, and judge levels of quality and importance

Exploring - Able to investigate, research and consider alternatives

Information retrieval - Able to access different and multiple sources of information

Inter-personal - Able to question, actively listen, examine given answers and interact sensitevely with others

Critical analysis & Problem Solving - Able to deconstruct and analyse problems or complex situations. To find solutions to problems through analyses and exploration of all possibilities using appropriate methods, rescources and creativity.

Presentation - Able to clearly present information and explanations to an audience. Through the written or oral mode of communication accurately and concisely.

Argument - Able to put forward, debate and justify an opinion or a course of action, with an individual or in a wider group setting

Subject specific skills

problem solving to develop solutions to understand the past

understanding the complexity of change over time; in specific contexts and chronologies

being sensitive to the differences, or the "otherness" of the past, and the difficulty to using it as a guide to present or future action

being sensitive to the role of perceptions of the past in contemporary cultures